What is Acupuncture? Its working and its benefits.

Our body has over 2000 pressure points in our body. Each point is connected to various parts of the body. Acupuncture is an alternative medical practice which allows stimulation of various pressure points on the body in order to ease pain and treat some other health condition. This holistic health approach goes back to Chinese tradition which had experienced medical practitioners insert needles at various points on the human body through the skin to various depths.

Researchers suggest that this technique may be used to relieve pain and nausea. However, doctors outside Chinese medical system do not accept the success level of acupuncture in treating diseases of liver, kidneys or diabetes. Currently, acupuncture is used to treat Cancer related symptoms and side-effects but not treat the disease directly. Even though acupuncture uses needles, it is relatively a very less painful process as it helps in treating other body pains without the need for medications. Scientists are still studying how acupuncture can help treat depression, anxiety, side effects of cancer treatment, insomnia and inflammation. However, acupuncture can work successfully at eliminating pain.

Acupuncture can treat the following conditions:

Migraines

Pain in neck and lower back

Knee pain

Muscles tear, spasms and sprain

Digestion problems

Arthritis

Allergies

How it works?

Acupuncture goes back to the ancient times of Chinese medicine. Acupuncture has changed a lot than it was described in ancient Chinese texts. Acupuncture is actually developed on the concept that diseases in the body occur due to disruptions and obstructions of energy flow in the body. Acupuncture therapy stimulates the pressure points on the body which helps releasing the energy flow in body. The nerves are stimulated by putting the needle at various points on the body. Endorphins are released due to the signals sent by the brain. This makes the patient feel happy or euphoric which makes him feel less pain. Acupuncture can even help people suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The technique is also being used along with fertility treatments on women suffering from Poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOD) who have problems getting pregnant. Even patients with allergic asthma have shown signs of improvement with acupuncture.

However there is no scientific proof whether pressure pints and meridians exist in real or not but various studies show that acupuncture worked at betterment of certain conditions.

Benefits of acupuncture include:

It can control various kinds of pain

It has very less side effects

Safe if performed correctly.

It can help in conditions where pain relievers are not advised

It can be carried out in combination with other treatments

Ways in which acupuncture can help in making you healthier:

Extremely effective in treating headaches and migraines: Both randomly places needles and strategically placed needle can improve symptoms of migraines and headaches in patients. It is highly effective in treating tension type headaches and it reduces the intensity of headaches,

Helps in treating sleep disorders: It has been seen that patients taking sleep medications or herbs if combined acupuncture therapy along with it, showed greater improvement in sleep disorders like insomnia than patients who only relied on herbs and medicines. Also It has no side-effects.

Improves all sorts of pain: Acupuncture is effective in treatment of chronic pain in knee, lower back, arthritis pain and spinal and neck pains. Researches show that people who underwent acupuncture for pain treatment experienced greater improvement in neck pain, back pain, arthritis pain and spinal pain. It also treats osteoarthritis, headaches and muscle pains if followed over a long time religiously.

Helps in pregnancy: Acupuncture also helps in treating pain and anxiety of labor and pregnancy. It can help controlling hormones, reduce stress and also ease the process of giving birth. The technique is completely safe than many other treatments as well as treating postpartum depression in new mothers.

Cognitive health: It also helps in preventing age related mental degeneration which causes dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Acupuncture can help in preventing age related cognitive decline.

Improving Chemotherapy symptoms: Chemotherapy and cancer treatment causes a lot of damage to the body hence acupuncture is known to improve symptoms and side effects of chemotherapy. It helps protecting healthy cells, increases platelet count and immunity.